An exemplary ash-free coal production method is one described in Patent Literature (PTL) 1. The ash-free coal production method produces an ash-free coal by mixing coal with a solvent to prepare a slurry; heating the slurry to extract a coal component soluble in the solvent (hereinafter also referred to as a “solvent-soluble component”); separating the slurry containing the extracted solvent-soluble component into a solution and a solids-enriched fluid, where the solution contains the solvent-soluble component, and the solids-enriched fluid contains a coal component insoluble in the solvent (hereinafter also referred to as a “solvent-insoluble component”); and separating and recovering the solvent from the separated solution to give the ash-free coal. The solvent separated and recovered from the solution is stored in a solvent tank and reused. The ash-free coal production method employs spray drying to separate and recover the solvent from the solution to thereby give the ash-free coal. The spray drying allows an organic substance and an inorganic substance in the ash-free coal to precipitate separately and enables easy removal of a fine inorganic substance and a metal component, where the inorganic substance is mixed in a small amount in the solution containing the solvent-soluble component, and the metal component is dissolved in the solvent.